Riot Fest 2025 Tour • Page 88

Whole fest rocked. No one was topping Blink.

 

What an incredible weekend

 

Friday and Saturday were such fantastic days, that today felt so weak in comparison. Still had a blast. My quick thoughts:

Texas is the Reason’s set was criminally under attended. Couldn’t believe how empty that was, walked right up to the front of the stage during the first song. But also holy shit they were too loud!

Hanson’s technical difficulties fucked up that whole stage. Ended up seeing their final two songs because I thought I was catching Gym Class Heroes. Holy hell was that Hanson crowd huge. I saw a woman walk out with a shirt that said this was her 87th Hanson show.

Microwave and Ovlov were cool discoveries today, wasn’t familiar with either.

The Wonder Years was the most energetic set of the day. That crowd went nuts.

Caught the final 4 songs of Cobra Starship. Another surprisingly huge crowd.

Was only able to watch 5 songs of Academy Is before having to find my crew at Green Day. A shame, because they were the best sounding set that day for me.

Green Day really isn’t my cup of tea. All the Hey Ohs were driving me nuts. Left after 45 minutes.

 

Nothing was announced at the end. All they did was put up the riot fest 2026 tickets on sale now

 

Way back when we were speculating about the lineup, I was sure they’d close a stage and @alkalinexandy (I think) thought they weren’t that big of a draw. Turned out we were both right! But the vibe was so good at that set even if I had hoped more people would be there.

 

I really expected more people at their set so I made sure to grab a spot for Dehd, The Wonder Years, and Texas Is The Reason. I would have been fine just walking up lol

 

Sunday felt so weird compared to Friday. Felt very top heavy with Green Day and that was what most people were there for.

 

Did the same, right along the center barrier, which was absolutely the right move for TWY. Really fun vantage point for a band I had already seen 30 times.

 

You were right near me then!

 

Yesterday was chill, felt way less crowded than Friday/Saturday.

 

This would be magical

 

Already got my ticket for next year on a payment plan.

 

I'm at work straight up wobbling around, my poor feet

 

I’m still just happy that I got to see The Grouch and Going to Pasalacqua!

 

Also, I went to Hanson once Ben Weasel was starting fights because my wife liked them as a kid so why not. I never could have guessed that I would see Hanson cover the Descendents with Stephen Egerton.

 

lmao I heard from a friend about Ben Weasel being his usual dick self.

 

See the blink set....see the green day set.

I can't believe that when I see green day at a festival I have 0 interest because they simply dont want to change haha ever.

 

Best sets of the weekend were Green Day, Jack White, Knocked Loose, and IDLES for sure.

 

Say what you will about the repetitive setlist and the woah-ohs or whatever, but Green Day is a band that just knows how to play to a crowd that size. From the production to the pristine sound to pulling a fan on stage to the general energy of the place, they have it down.

 

I was watching Green Day from the Jawbreaker side up front and the Linda Linda’s were in the crowd with their friends and family ROCKING OUT. For a band who spent a whole summer on tour with them they were acting like it was their first concert ever. It was awesome to see. They were moshing so hard into me I had to step back.

 

sunday was probably the most fun day of the fest for me—soft play, lambrini girls, and TWY were all phenomenal. so glad i made it back this year, got to bring my sister for her first time as well.

 

Back home and finally starting to digest the entire weekend. It always takes me a few days because it's all just so overwhelming. Being around that many people, the stress of getting out each night, all of the music... My cup is full from the weekend but man, does it zap my physical and mental energy. Anyway.

Friday: My partner wound up having so much fun at Weird Al that we stuck around for the entire set and I'm glad we did because the set was flawless. The ~20 minutes of Touché and Alkaline Trio that I caught, as well as Samiam, were weekend highlights for me. Senses Fail was whatever but the Ferris Bueller schtick made the set worth it, TBH. Rico Nasty was a fun change of pace but I was disappointed to see the underwhelming crowd reaction she got. We didn't stay for all of Blink but given their recent setlists, it felt perfect leaving after "Feeling This." They were on point but we just didn't want to deal with the crowds.

Saturday: Starting with Cliffdiver, Wishy, and Girl in a Coma was a lowkey, fun way start to the day. Militarie Gun crushed it. GWAR was GWAR (which is a feature, not a bug). The Bouncing Souls were amazing, per usual, and I'm glad they were able to sneak in three tracks after the album. Seeing the Dropkick Murphys in a setting like this was such a treat! They are definitely at a career high performance-wise. The Damned didn't draw the way they would of had they had the earlier slot they originally had but... They were a weekend highlight. Amazing stage presence and they sounded fantastic! We caught two Weezer songs on the way out but left because, yeah, Rivers sounded like shit.

Sunday: Weakened Friends, the Paradox, and Footballhead were all fine but nothing that really blew me away. Caught the first few Ataris songs while eating lunch waiting for Lambrini Girls who blew me the fuck away. I didn't get to see the full set but what I did catch was awesome. Pegboy and Dance Hall Crashers were my two favorites from earlier in the day by a longshot. The bummer about the day is that we opted to stick to the Riot stage to avoid crowds and keep our energy up for Green Day. Screeching Weasel was fun until Ben started talking (should have seen that coming). Seeing Bad Religion and Jawbreaker from a distance wasn't ideal but what we heard/saw was awesome. I had SUCH a blast during Idles too, so while I was kinda wishing I saw some of TITR? It was worth it. And then... Green Day was my favorite of the weekend. We wound up being ~15 rows from the stage so had an awesome view. It was great seeing them switch up the set list a bit was nice (getting "The Grouch" and "Going to Pasalacqua" was ). We headed toward the back during the Dookie songs and watched the rest from the back. It was cool being up close for the vibes but also seeing all the people watching at the end.

Probably my favorite Riot Fest so far. It was consistent all the way through with some super high-highs. Excited to see what they pull out next year, even if I may not be able to go.

 

I saw this the other day and wasn't able to respond until just now - but yes, that was me! And I don't think I articulated it correctly back then but after this year's experience at the festival there's definitely a class of stage-closers/headliners that shouldn't necessarily headline but definitely can.

Like, maybe they don't draw as well as other acts but they've earned it from a prestige standpoint and they can hold their own in a live setting so it almost doesn't matter how many people show up. It still feels like a headliner for the people who are into it, they held their own, etc. If that makes sense.

The Damned, Texas is the Reason, and Jawbreaker all fit that category this year. And I do honestly kinda wonder how much billing on Sunday affected some of that. There's no scenario where TITR or Jawbreaker wanted to be playing at the same time, etc.